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I sometimes wonder if this debt accounts for some of the differences between my generation (graduated from college 10 years ago) and my parents' (baby boomers). When they went to college they generally didn't have to worry about being $20K in debt after graduation -- and that's just for undergraduate education, in a public state school! So they were freer to mosey around the country, go to rock concerts in new york, fart around for a few years trying to experience life and

There are a lot of differences between the generations. The economy was way different a generation or two ago. Colleges were a reasonable way to absorb a large number of GI's coming back from WWII, and they were also a haven for those who didn't want to go to Vietnam. What was once a blessing became a luxury, and is now almost a requirement to participate in the economy.

Of course, this too shall pass. When I was in high school, practically everyone was preparing to

Well, at least not if you're ingenious. My college [macalester.edu] just crossed the 30K a year boundary. Of that, I pay 6 or 7K, my parents pay 5 or 6K, and scholarships, grants, and work study pick up the rest. Admittedly, I'm something of a special case because I get $18K in academic scholarships from various sources, but it's still doable even if you don't have that.

The problem is only going to get worse, because these days you essentially need some sort of graduate degree to get the really cool jobs that you used to b

$30,000/year! Kee-rist! I laughed when my dad predicted that he'd need to cover $100,000 for tuition alone for my two brothers -- at a cheap school! Sad thing is that he was right, but that was just a ballpark figure.

When I started, my school was fluttering just over $8,000/year for tuition. Upperclassmen were complaining about how high that was. When I left, tuition was pushing (or just over) $13,000. Oh, and this was the original Macintosh University, so lots of people were complaining about the obligatory $2500-$4000 tax to buy a glorified typewriter that wouldn't last 5 years...

The really sad thing is that I had professors that went to that school. It has a big 5-year co-op program, and it was not unreasonable for students to work for six months and manage to pay tuition, room and board for a year. When I was there, salaries were such that I could pay room and board for most of a year (for the middle three years), but certainly couldn't cover tuition from my co-op job.

The sad thing is, I didn't graduate that long ago. Inflation hasn't reduced the value of the dollar is half of what it was ten years ago, and paying $13K out-of-pocket per year is unbelievable. Especially compared to the European systems.